Mugen no Yuuki - Dreamlike Courage
by zRewinDzz
Summary: Ishikawa Tooru. Yuki has liked him as far back as she can remember, however she's never even thought about telling him that, or even hinting it... and yet, somehow, he's now her "boyfriend" in order to help her turn down a confession? Will it really end after she turns him down, or will it turn into more than playing lovers? [Yes I put Yuuki in the title to reference 'Yuki']
1. Prologue

_**[Hey! It's me again! I've wanted to write a HoriMiya fic for a while, and I finally got round to it. I totally think these two should be together as soon as possible, and it should be stated. Either way this is just a bit of a kind of prologue to open up the story, since I wanted to get this out ASAP]**_

"Come on, We're going." I heard those words leave his mouth, and saw a hand gently held out towards me. I was flustered, I didn't know how to react, at least not until he said the words I'd wanted to hear forever now. "We're supposed to be dating today, right?"

I ignored "today". Tooru just said we were dating. I didn't care it was an act. It was enough for me. So, as we prepared to go and turn down Yanagi, I truly meant the words I said. Tooru really was cooler than Akane, the lie was that it was "just a bit". If only you knew Tooru. I'm completely and utterly in love with you Ishikawa-san.

From almost day one of school, me and Tooru have been reasonably close. I met him through Hori, and although my friendship with her is truly special, I could have also said the same about Tooru. While Hori was more of a traditional, **"girly"** if you will, best friend, Tooru was more goofy. We'd often have skits, and inside jokes that the others would never understand. We were endlessly close, and yet at the same time, I ended up feeling so distant.

Truthfully even seeing him like Hori so much throughout the start of the year was painful, but also seeing him happy was the important thing... and yet despite that, I cruelly felt happy when Hori rejected him. I was also incredibly scared I'd lose him to Konno-san too, but again he stuck by my side. I feel like I've been given so much by him and given nothing back, and yet even now, even when I feel like I've asked too much of him... It makes me think that he may always be there for me, even if it is just as a friend, and that thought gives me endless happiness and hope for my future.

As long as Ishikawa Tooru is by my side I feel like I'll truly be happy. No matter if the feeling is replicated from him. I guess my onesided feelings will be endless, unless I somehow show the courage to change that.

 ** _[GAH! I love Yuki. Please let me know what you think, and if you liked it or not!]_**


	2. Yuki

_**[I'm finally back! I figured this story deserved a continuation. Hopefully more will be coming soon if I can find the time. Fingers crossed my more "sweetness" based story is continuing in a way you like it.]**_

"Hey, Tooru?" I call out to my 'boyfriend', "Don't you think you should call me 'Yuki'? I mean it's a bit weird if we're 'dating' but you're still using my family name."

 _To catch you all up, I'm Yoshikawa Yuki. To cut a long story short, this boy, Ishikawa Tooru, is pretending to be my boyfriend to help me turn down a confession. The bigger problem here is that I'm actually head over heels for him, and the fact this is all 'pretend' really hurts, although I don't have the courage to really make that change._

"I guess you have a point, and I mean you call me 'Tooru' anyways so it's not like it's too strange for us anyways. Yu~~ki." He smirked as he said it. My face lit up red out of embarrassment, and the worst part was I couldn't even get revenge. Me saying 'Tooru' was very much normal.

"Jeez, no need to tease me..." I whisper...

He looks over at me with a "Hm?" sound, asking what I said. I quickly shake my head and with a swift "it's nothing" I decided to shift topics onto our after school 'date' tomorrow.

"So, to start with we should probably keep acting until we're well away from school. Where should we actually go though?" I asked, still recovering from his whole 'Yuki' stunt.

"I mean you could just come over to my place." He said, almost criminally casually. _'WHAT. Are you kidding me?! Could this actually be...?'_ Although my fantasies were quickly shattered when I was reminded of the numb-skull I was talking to. "Like we can play video games or something for a bit, then after a few hours you can go if you want."

"S-Sure... We can do that then. I'll bring a cake or something to greet your family then... I mean if we're pretending we may as well go all out you know." Fidgeting with my hands, I hide my face and look towards the classroom door.

"M-mhm... yeah okay." Lacking it's usual confidence, Tooru's response wavered. I look back over to see him looking off to one side, bright red cheeks and seemingly fighting a smile. I knew this was my chance to get payback for earlier, but I couldn't bring myself to.

Instead I just stood up, tapped him on the head, and smiled. "What're you getting all embarrassed for, idiot." I laughed. _'Don't say it. Stop. Idiot.'_ "Or are you saying you want to stop pretending."

After realizing what I said, I didn't want to hear his response, and before he could even speak, I interrupted and simply said "Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow To~~ru. My mum wanted me home early." And so, with the widest of grins I could muster, I disappeared out of the classroom, and as I left range of the classroom I rested against a wall and took a deep breath.

"Idiot Yuki. Idiot!" I whispered to myself.

The walk home felt like it dragged on, but regardless I couldn't stop repeating that one moment in my mind.

'Yu~~ki'

"Hehehe. To~~ru!" she giggled to herself.

 _ **[I had to. Before we move any further I just HAD to get Tooru calling her Yuki. Even in the manga it feels wrong he still uses Yoshikawa. Also maybe a hint of Tooru's feelings? We'll have to see where it goes, but I'm enjoying writing some fluff at the minute (Sorry fans of "Nobody is Safe", but this is what I'm enjoying atm ahahaha) so there'll hopefully be more of this or "Mitsudatte" coming over the near future.**_

 _ **As always let me know what you thought - I love the feedback I get.]**_


	3. Chance

The bell rang to signal the end of the day, and I saw Tooru beginning to walk over. Hori began to chuckle, with an expression that clearly showed what she was about to say.

"You two lovebirds have fun now, enjoy your _'games'_!" She chuckled. I laughed with her, turning away to hide the fact my face could've been mistaken for a giant tomato at that point.

"Lets get going Yuki~." Tooru finally escaped the crowd of people swarming around his desk at the end of the day. As I was about to leave the classroom, however, I noticed Miyamura and Hori had very strange looks on their faces.

" _'Yuki'_? Since when have you called her ' _Yuki'_ , Tooru?" _I forgot! I'd passed it off as whatever on that occasion but I didn't tell Hori about the name change yet..._

"Yesterday? We said since we're 'going out' we may as well use given names." he responded, clueless as ever. Hori clocked on straight away, and with that same expression, whispered something in my ear.

"Well, I know you're pretending, Yuki, but are you **_really_** pretending?" I spun around, blushing brighter than ever, and dragged her out the classroom, passing it off as a bathroom trip to the others.

"You could've told me Yuki. It's not like I'd tell him."

"It's embarrassing! Plus he likes you so... I can't even chase it, so I just have to live with this I guess. Even if he agreed to pretend, it's just that. Pretend. I doubt this'll last longer than-" Hori clapped her hands around my cheeks as if to stop me.

"I think you should go for it. From my perspective you have a bigger chance than you think you do. Give it a shot. But first, you've gotta turn down Yanagi. So go do it. He's probably waiting."

As expected from my best friend. She gave me encouragement even when I hadn't said anything. I decided I was going to push just a little bit extra, run away that little bit less. But before any of that, I had to resolve the cause of the situation. We left the bathroom to find Miyamura and Tooru chatting about who-knows-what.

As we walked across the corridor I called over to Tooru.

"Tooru. Lets go, Yanagi-kun is probably waiting." He nodded in response, and as I walked away Hori threw a wink at me. With a mixture of embarrassment and determination, we went to finally end it.

When we eventually found Yanagi he looked like he'd not been waiting too long - much to my relief. He noticed me and began to walk over, although it was clear he wasn't expecting Tooru to be there.

"Yoshikawa-san, and... Sorry who is this?" he asked.

"Ah-. Ehh... this is... well Ishikawa Tooru is... he's my-"

"I'm her boyfriend, Ishikawa Tooru. It's nice to meet you." He interrupted, with confidence and authority, and almost a hint of anger in his voice. I suddenly felt an almost vice-like grip on my hand. "I'm sorry but she's dating somebody."

I felt tears begin to form in my eyes. Before I could even say anything Yanagi immediately calmly responded to the situation.

"Ah so you had a boyfriend. Thank you for responding so fast Yoshikawa-san. I wish you happiness with Ishikawa-san." He smiled and quietly left. There was clearly no disdain. In a sense it almost felt that he was simply happy to have let his feelings be known to the one he liked.

"Hey, Yuki." I look over to Tooru and I see him smiling in a way I've never seen before, still holding onto my hand. "You're probably a bit hurt after that, right? Shall we get going?"

To be honest I'd completely forgotten about our 'date'. He probably noticed it at that point and tried to let go of my hand, but I grabbed his back. I was blushing, but I was quick to explain my reasoning. "We've gotta keep acting until we reach your house. So keep going for now." In reality I just wanted an excuse to keep this feeling going. Anytime soon this whole situation could've come to an end, so I allowed myself to be spoiled a bit.

 _'Letting my feelings be known to the person I like, huh.'_ I look up at Tooru. He notices and responds with another one of his **"Hm?"** sound effects. "It's nothing, just thinking about things." I giggled as I responded. I couldn't stop myself from smiling, and I feel that for that time we were indeed putting on quite the act of a couple, and I probably looked like the happiest girl on the planet.

 _ **Probably because I was.**_

 _ **[Well, I got a bit overexcited and wrote a lot of chapters in one day, so the story may progress a little more pretty soon. I'm just really into the flow of writing and I'm enjoying it so much! As always let me know what you think and what you want to see in future chapters, but right now I'm fanboying over my own story because it's so fluffy atm so I really can't stop ahaha.]**_


	4. Pretend

We arrived at Tooru's house. It was bigger than I'd imagined, so much so it was intimidating. He effortlessly navigated the stairs and corridors until we arrived at his room. Upon entering there was a huge TV on the wall, connected up to a variety of consoles. I couldn't even think for a while, but eventually I came to.

"Hold on a second Tooru, you never told me you were rich!" He looked at me, confused.

"We're not rich, I definitely wouldn't put it that way. My dad has a pretty good job, but we're not rich, not by a long shot. Anyways should we start? What do you want to play?" He looked so normal, so carefree. For me it was my first time in a boy's room, and I couldn't really understand how he was so calm, but at the same time I knew he likely didn't see me as a girl to begin with. It hurt, I was head over heels in love with him. I just wanted him to see me, I want him to know that I'm a girl. That I-

"Yuki? You're Crying! What's up?" He shot across the room to the bed I was sat on. My head just sat in my hands, I was no longer trying to hide the fact I was crying. After today this whole 'pretending' situation will probably end. I don't want that.

"You can stop treating me like your girlfriend now if you want to." I didn't know what I was saying anymore. _I knew I should stop. I knew I'd regret it._

"Huh? What do you-"

"I mean we've rejected him already, right? That's all this was for wasn't it?" _'Stop. Please. You'll ruin this whole thing.'_

"Is that why you're crying? If you want to keep pretending for some reason we can keep going-"

 _ **"NO! WHY WON'T YOU NOTICE?! I DON'T WANT TO PRETEND!"**_

"Notice what? Why're you crying if you don't want to pretend." Tooru sounded confused and I could sense the irritation in his voice too. At this point I was too far to turn back. _If I didn't say it now, I'd likely lose him anyways._

"I don't want to pretend. I want it to be real. I don't want everything we do to be fake, and I don't want you to treat me like a girlfriend as if its a game."

"Wait... Yuki... Are you-"

"I want to be your _**real**_ girlfriend, Tooru. I like you. I love you. I have done as long as I remember. I wanted to turn down Yanagi because the one I like is you." I got up and walked towards the door, wiping my eyes. _'Stop. Don't say it. Don't just leave. Please, Yuki!'_ "We can stop. I'll see you at school tomorrow. I'm going home."

"Wha- Yuki, wait-" I shut the door, ran downstairs, grabbed my bag, and ran out onto the street. Following the streets as fast as I could I just wanted to get home.

Upon arriving, I flopped down onto my bed, burried my head in my pillow and proceeded to cry for what felt like years. I didn't go to school the next day, or the day after that. In fact it was probably a week before I finally mustered up the courage to go back and face the situation I'd caused.

 _ **[Drama time. I'm really loving this at the moment, although I think I'm getting a bit too into these releases. But I'm gonna keep going. As always, tell me what you think, and what you want to see happen next.]**_


	5. Real

I stared into the mirror. I looked ready to leave but inside I would've been happy shutting myself away for another month. I wasn't ready for everything to come crashing down. Dreading what was going to come, I forced myself to leave the house, walked the same path I always did, and arrived at the gates of school. I prepared myself for pain, tears and rejection. I was sure I'd pissed him off, and I would've been surprised if he would even talk to me. I'd all but ruined the friendship we'd built simply because of my selfish desires to keep things going how they were.

I was all but prepared for what would've been the worst day of my life, but as I arrived at the classroom door I was stopped by a familiar voice that I was more than happy to hear.

"It's about time you came back, _'Miss Yoshikawa'_. You should at least drop me a text if you're gonna miss school." Hori smiled as she came over. She ruffled my hair and quietened her voice. "You did your best right? But you're worried about the response. I feel like maybe you're being too pessimistic, Yuki. You'd be surprised to hear that there was a certain someone who was even more worried about what happened than you are. Actually speaking of the devil, here he comes right now." I turn around to see Tooru walking towards class.

Before I could say anything, I felt a nudge in my back from a winking Hori. _'I swear I'm gonna kill her when I-'_

"Yuki!" Tooru called out, almost out of desperation. He began to walk faster towards me. I was nervous, scared. _'He's mad, definitely upset at me.'_

"Listen, Tooru... I-" I was interuped by a pair of arms wrapping around me tightly, pulling me into an embrace.

The silence between us lasted a few seconds, but it felt like days. Eventually it was broken by a tearful Ishikawa Tooru gently asking, "Yuki, can I talk to you outside for a second?"

I flinched. _'This is it. He's going to reject me now.'_

In the end though, there was no running from this, and I simply nodded and began to follow him.

We eventually arrived on the roof, the same place we had turned down Yanagi a week prior. When we got there he stood straight in front of me, and cut straight to the chase.

"What you said that day, about not pretending, about wanting to go out for real. Was it serious?" I could barely breathe, I was so nervous. I eventually mustered up the strength to respond with a simple "Mhm". My head nodded vigorously trying to prepare for pain. I could see our friend group falling apart in my mind. Everything was about to end.

"I don't want to pretend anymore. I want that all to end. I'm tired of it." I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. Everything was over. The droplets became streams down the sides of my face, and the pain in my heart was as if I'd been stabbed. "Because I also want it all to be real."

 _ **'Eh'**_ My heart stopped. My eyes shot open. _'I must've misheard him. He was saying he was sick of it. He wanted nothing to do with me.'_

"You've been there for me almost all of my High School life, living my happiest moments with me and helping through my darkest times. If you come to hate me because of this I don't know what I'll do, but this time I will say it, because I'm afraid I'll never get the chance to again..."

 _'Please don't say it. I won't be able to take it if you say it now. It's too much, too cruel.'_

 **"Yoshikawa Yuki. I like you. Will you go out with me?"**

My knees gave way as I fell to the floor, my sniffles of emotion became cries. The tears I was trying to hold in were released in tidal waves of water down my face. All of the fear, all of the pain, all of the expectation. All of it came out at that moment. I couldn't believe what I'd heard. I couldn't believe those words were directed at me.

He sat down a few feet from me, clearly giving me the space he felt I needed. He was always very aware of others, and almost never pushed people too far. He was so caring, so kind, so thoughtful.

Eventually he stood up. "I'm going to class, I'll see you soon okay. Take your time calming down. I'll see you later." He began to walk towards the door of the roof, his head pointed at the ground, clearly hurt, and in that instant I realized I may be losing my chance. Tooru was slipping away from me. Without a second guess I leapt up and before he could even turn around I grabbed him from behind out of desperation.

"Don't go! Don't! Please Tooru I don't want to lose you! Not again!" I began to cry uncontrollably into the back of his sweatshirt, and yet seemingly out of instinct, he recognized exactly what I wanted, and exactly what I needed to hear. In 1 fluid motion he loosened my grip, turned around and pulled me tightly into his arms. His hand rubbing the back of my head gently. Not a moment after I heard his voice ring around my head.

"You have nothing to worry about, Yuki. I'm always going to be here. As long as you want me with you, I'll be with you."

My eyes shot wide open. More and more tears fell, and my cries became louder and louder. All calm in my body had left, it was a mixture of excitement, panic, sadness... and yet all of that was eclipsed by a single emotion. One that up until that point I'd never truly felt.

"I love you... so much, Tooru."

"Mhm. I love you too, Yuki."

 _ **[Well, the end of my single night writing spree is here. Hopefully you enjoyed the last few chapters. I kinda just wanted to get to this point in the story and finally get to write a confession between these two. Maybe you would've preferred a more fluffy confession rather than this emotional one, but from the manga I get the feeling there's a fair bit of emotion in there for Yuki, especially seeing him fall for her best friend and having to stay happy.**_

 _ **She seems like the type of girl to never let out her emotions, and this scenario definitely seemed like a situation where it would become too much to hold. Regardless let me know what you thought and hopefully I'll be writing more of this very soon!]**_


End file.
